Local horse honored as miracle pet

A very special horse being boarded at an Oxford farm was honored Saturday for surviving and thriving following a brush with death.
The 9-year-old Oldenburg horse’s show name is ‘Serendipity,? while her farm name is ‘NV.? But judging by her story, she should be called Miracle.
She was honored during the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine’s 2010 ‘Celebration of Life? event, which recognizes pets ? along with their owners and veterinarians ? who faced overwhelming medical odds and survived.
Between Aug. 8-9 of last year, the horse, owned by 38-year-old Rochester Hills resident Kim Robbins, developed a very serious condition called Clostridial Myonecrosis.
‘It happens in about 1 in 100,000 cases. It’s very rare,? said Robbins, who boards her horse at Freestyle Farm, located at 1730 N. Oxford Rd.
Clostridial Myonecrosis literally means the death of muscle tissue caused by Clostridium bacteria, the hardy spores of which can survive for long periods of time, even years, in healthy muscle tissue.
The bacteria can only grow when there is no oxygen present, so it doesn’t spread in normal muscle tissue that’s well oxygenated by its blood supply. Where oxygen’s present, only inactive bacterial spores can survive.
Serendipity/NV developed the life-threatening condition following an intramuscular injection she received Aug. 7 to fight off a different infection.
In most cases, injections do not result in Clostridial Myonecrosis because the muscle tissue remains well oxygenated, so the bacteria can’t grow even when present.
But if there’s a lot of muscle damage or inflammation, the blood and oxygen supply to parts of the muscle may become very low, allowing the Clostridium to grow.
This is apparently what happened in Serendipity/NV’s case.
The day after the shot Robbins said the left side of her horse’s neck was ‘swollen? and ‘huge.?
A veterinarian was called out to examine the horse and he believed it was a localized reaction around the injection sight. He gave the horse some medicine and directed that she be watched over night.
The doctor told her ‘worst case scenario? it was Clostridial Myonecrosis, but noted he’d never seen a case of it in his 25 years of practice.
When the veterinarian came out the next day to check the horse, he recommended taking her to the MSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital in East Lansing.
‘To me, it looked like the swelling had gone down, but what (the bacteria) was really doing was migrating through her body. It was actually spreading,? Robbins said. ‘It’s a really rapid, aggressive bacteria. It started to move through her whole body and she became toxic probably within 24 hours. She was just really lethargic and she couldn’t pick her head up. There was blood in her urine.?
Once they got Serendipity/NV to the hospital, Robbins said the staff ‘knew immediately what it was.?
In order to treat the horse, numerous large cuts were made deep into the infected muscle throughout the horse’s body.
These cuts open the swollen tissue to allow the trapped fluid and gas to escape and to get oxygen to the infected site, which effectively stops the bacteria’s growth.
Robbins said Serendipity/NV had about nine incisions on her chest and two more deep ones on her neck.
‘The treatment’s pretty gruesome,? she said. ‘She looked like she had been attacked by a bear.?
The incisions on her neck were very deep.
‘You could about stick your fist in there. They had to open her up that much,? Robbins said.
The doctors never gave Robbins any false hope. They told her that most horses don’t survive the treatment.
‘During the first 48 hours, I really didn’t think she was going to make it,? said Robbins, noting Serendipity/NV’s kidneys had begun to shut down and she had to have transfusions because she’d lost so much blood.
Fortunately, the tough horse, who will celebrate her 10th birthday in May, pulled through.
‘Luckily, going into it, she was a healthy young horse,? Robbins said.
Serendipity/NV stayed at the hospital for two weeks before returning to Freestyle Farm.
‘It’s amazing how quickly she healed,? Robbins said.
Today, Robbins said her horse is ‘doing fabulous? and she’s even riding her again.
‘There’s a small divot in her neck from the one incision that went so deep, but other than that, you’d never know anything ever happened to her,? she said.
The only restriction on Serendipity/NV is she can’t leave the farm until her immune system makes a full recovery, which should happen by late summer.
Robbins plans to start riding her again in dressage competitions in spring 2011.
Last year, Serendipity/NV was the Midwest Dressage Association Training Level Champion and the Oldenburg Champion First Level at the Kentucky Horse Park.
‘She’ll be back,? said Robbins, who’s been riding competitively for about 25 years and professionally training horses and riders for four years.
Robbins is extremely grateful to the MSU medical staff who took such terrific care of her horse.
‘I can’t say enough nice things about them,? she said. ‘They took such excellent care of her. They turned into family to me. I still keep in contact with the students and the vets. One of the doctors wants to come down and visit her.?

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